


Turnabout Temsik

by cydanite



Category: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Gen, Rating May Change, Tags May Change, and almost a year after AA3, but before the disbarment trial of AA4?, dont worry about it, just throw another year in there it's ok, spoilers for AA1-3 and GT btw, takes place a few weeks before ghost trick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23784505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cydanite/pseuds/cydanite
Summary: The Wright & Co Law Office gets an urgent call from an lively Inspector, requesting a channeling ritual for a ghost he refuses to describe beyond a name.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

**_December 7, 2:15 PM_ **

**_Wright & Co Law Office_ **

The distant sun did little to disrupt the chill that had settled quietly in the Wright & Co Law Office that day. In the worn swivel chair before his desk sat Phoenix Wright, who looked concentratedly through a collection of papers and notes on his desk. He had planned today to finally reorganize the case files lining the tall shelves in his office, one by one taking a binder and organizing the contents. The papers tended to get mixed up and disheveled after months worth of late-night research sessions before important trials, so he made a habit of cleaning up at least once a year. He pulled the scruffy knit blanket he had on further over his shoulders and took a sip from his cup of coffee, frowning when the now cold liquid hit his tongue. He understood now why most cleaning is done at the first sight of spring. It was hard to concentrate on the monotonous task of organizing old papers with such a chill around. The magical, snowy wonderland most had hoped for this year’s winter to be wasn’t seeming likely, instead the end of fall brought the premonition of a dry, gray, and thoroughly unpleasant next season.

_Though I guess it means I can keep taking my bike around the city instead of paying the bus fare._ Phoenix thought.

“Hey, Nick! Keeping warm enough?” He looked up at the sound to see his assistant, Maya Fey, skip into the room holding a silver kettle and two mugs. Phoenix had suggested she put on a sweater over her usual medium vestments to keep warm, though she refused, stating a spirit medium’s got to be able to handle a little cold, right? So, despite the drafty nature of the small office, she wore her usual attire.

“Best I can, I suppose. The weather shows no signs of making our lives any more comfy.”

“Well lucky for you, you have an ace assistant. I made some tea, wanna try a cup?” Before Phoenix could say yes, she had already poured him a portion, and walked over to the couch to pour herself a cup as well. The attorney smiled as he took the warm ceramic cup into his hands.

“Oh! Thanks, Maya.” As he lifted the cup to his face, his nose instinctively scrunched up at the intense smell of spices. He tore the cup away from his face as far away as his arm would reach. “Ack! Maya, what kind of tea is this? I can feel my nose burning off!”

Maya smiled at him. “It’s part of my training! I can’t as well be standing under cold waterfalls at this time unless I want a cold, so I thought it would be a good idea to train against extreme heat instead!” She put on a determined face. “In your hands is a whole box of spice tea, steeped for twelve hours! Then reduced down to its essential flavors and, finally, spiked with hot pepper extract! The ultimate gauntlet of heat training! I call it: the **Spicy Samurai Challenge!** ” She struck a menacing pose, glaring intently at the teapot. The tails of several dozen tea bags stuck out of the lid like a hydra.

Phoenix looked cautiously into the cup, then took a tentative sip, sputtering as he almost spilled the drink. _It’s also hotter than the sun, I think I just burnt my tongue!_ “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll stick to my cold coffee.”

He set the cup down as Maya gave an indignant look. “Aw come on, Nick! You’ll never get used to the cold if you don’t work for it!”

“Hey, I’m not a practicing medium, I’m a practicing attorney. Besides, I’m busy organizing right now.”

“Well for a phoenix, you’ve got a pretty lousy heat tolerance.” She took a sip of her own cup, scrunching her face and gagging a bit at the horrible liquid. “It’s not the worst, I can take it!” She coughed out the last bit, smiling through the pain. Phoenix sighed, shaking his head and getting back to the current case file on his desk. I section. Iris.

_Ah._

He shuddered to think of that case again, regardless of the cold. Though it had been almost a year since those fateful few days up at Hazakura Temple, the weight of it all still wove its way onto his conscience every once in a while. The heat of the flames on the bridge contrasted with the sharp, piercing pain of the freezing rapids. The worry in his stomach as he waited to hear whether his best friend was still alive or not. Seeing Dahlia for the first time in seven years. It didn’t upset him, per se, more so overwhelmed him. He shut the binder, returning it to its rightful place on the shelf and picking up the next one. It could be reorganized later.

As Maya took small sips at the unholy drink she created, the phone on the desk in front of Phoenix began to ring. The small display showed an international number, a prominent 44 preceding the digits. _From the UK, huh?_ He picked up the receiver.

“Wright & Co Law Office! This is Phoenix Wright, how can I help you?”

He almost had to hold the phone away from his face to counteract the pure energy of the voice on the other end. “Afternoooooooon, Mr. Wright! You’re talking to Inspector Cabanela. Though I was hoping to speak to the assistant manager if she’s in today?” The man on the other end of the line sounded confident and suave, and the force of personality took him aback for a moment.

“H-hold on one moment.” He covered the phone’s mic with his offhand, moving it away from his face. “Maya, I have a call for you from an Inspector Cabanela, Do you recognize that name?” Maya put her drink down and stood up, taking the phone from Phoenix’s hand.

“Hmm...no, can’t say it rings a bell.” She put the phone to her ear. “Yes, this is Maya Fey, what can I do for you?” Phoenix laid back in his chair, taking his eyes off the task at hand. He let his mind be still for a moment, before the loud yell of his co-worker broke the day’s silence. “ **WHAAAAAT?** Really? … No, of course! Thank you! But, uh.... Oh! Okay then! Could you tell me more about-” She reached for a pen and a small note pad, lifting her hand from its eager writing position after a moment. “... Alright, I understand. …No, it should be alright... Tomorrow?“ She fumbled with the cord in her hand, knotting it between her fingers. “That would work, yes… Yes, of course!” She wrote a scribble on the note pad. “Huh? Oh, it’s no problem, Mr. Cabanela! I look forward to meeting you. Have a good afternoon- ah, evening! Have a good evening sir!” She hung up the phone, before pounding her fist in the air victoriously.

Phoenix breathed out a sigh. “Maya, you know I usually agree to work the cases you sign us up for, but could you at least ask me before accepting a job next time?”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that today! The good inspector wasn’t requesting a defense.”

Phoenix puzzled for a second. “Huh? Then why else would they call the office phone?”

“Because he was requesting a channeling! This one’s for me!”


	2. Chapter 2

Maya filled Phoenix in on the details. The man, one Mr. Cabanela, had offered to pay three times the conventional rate to conduct a spirit channeling as soon as physically possible. He said he’d booked a seat on the next available flight out of the country, and planned to meet with her at Kurain village the following evening at 8 PM. One part made her hesitate though, when she had asked who the spirit she would be contacting was. He’d refused to answer her, saying _“Sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t share that information over the phone. I’ll let you know when we meet in person, alright?”_ (the quote was restated with an Elvis-esque accent, which Phoenix internally deemed lukewarm at best.)

Maya tapped her chin in thought. “He did say he was an Inspector. You think this is police business, Nick?”

“Possibly. Though, it is a little strange for a member of the police to use a spirit medium for an investigation. Maybe they say how well it was working for us and wanted a piece of the action.” The statement was only partially genuine. Despite bailing them out of a few bad situations in the past, spirit channeling and criminal investigations had a rocky history.

“He didn’t seem like he was talking as a representative for the police or anything. In fact, that was probably one of the least formal requests I’ve ever gotten. Usually those who wish to speak with the deceased talk about them with some respect” She walked back over to the couch and sat down, cupping her pungent drink in her hand. “Though if it wasn't personal it makes you wonder why it was so urgent.” Maya brought the mug to her lips and took a deep sip, before slamming it back down on the table. “Oh! I just remembered one more thing! The Inspector requested that you come along too, Nick.”

“What? Why me?”

She leaned her head into her palm with a frown. “I don’t know, I didn’t ask. Besides it doesn’t matter, it’s not like you’re doing anything tomorrow anyways!”

_Oof. She's got me there. _

“And now you don’t need to worry about searching for a new case! Once this is done, I’m treating us to the most expensive ramen joint I can find!” Her mood seemed to lift drastically as she envisioned the evening feast tomorrow would bring.

Phoenix crossed his arms. “I don’t know, he seemed pretty vague. We should be careful, just in case. I’m gonna go google his name.”

Maya nodded. “Good idea! Let’s make sure he’s not secretly a murderer or anything, right?”

“Again, you mean?”

* * *

The following afternoon, the two locked up the Wright & Co office doors and headed out to the train station set for Kurain Village. Phoenix was happy enough to come along, though still without any good guesses on why he had to. It would be a nice chance to see Pearl again, and he always enjoyed the pleasant change in scenery that Kurain Village brought, despite the mountain air probably being even colder than the office. As the train winded across the tracks, Phoenix and Maya spent most of their time discussing what they had learned.

Mr. Cabanela was a top grade Inspector from the UK, and head of the Special Investigation Unit of the precinct he resided within. Most of the articles listed when his name was searched involve cases he had helped solve, all praising his competence and skill in the field. A few quoted him directly, verifying his flashy pattern of speech. The man was a star model, it seemed, for a perfect detective. 

After a two hour train ride and 30 minutes by taxi, Phoenix and Maya arrived at the Kurain Channeling School, where spirit mediums from the village trained diligently to develop and heighten their powers. It had been a while since Phoenix had last visited, though Maya came and went more frequently due to her important role as the Head Mystic. She walked up the steps and knocked on the door.

“Hello? It’s Mystic Maya and Mr. Wright, we-”

She was cut off by the door swinging open, and a tornado of white and red spinning out of it, leaving Maya tripping to get out of the way. The twister stopped two feet away from her, kicked the air, extended his hand in a pose, and turned his head. Standing at the top of the stairs was a tall, lanky man in a long white coat. Streaks of gray made their way across the sides of his brown hair, though nothing about him suggested a lack of energy. A bold red scarf hung over his arms, folded over once to protect against the cold, and his face displayed a confident smile.

“Ah, the smell of a crisp winter’s day!” He broke his pose, leaning back and resting his weight on one foot casually. “Yeah, nothing like it, baby!” The man reached out a hand towards Maya. “Inspector Cabanela, Head of the Special Investigation Unit back across the Pacific. I’d assume you’re the esteemed Mystic Maya?”

Maya took Cabanela’s hand, shaking it firmly in her own. “Mystic Maya Fey, at your service! And this is my assistant, Nick!” Phoenix gave a silent sigh. _You can’t play that card with every new person we meet, Maya._

He watched as Inspector Cabanela danced down the stairs, twirling elegantly off the last step and landing in front of the attorney. “How could I not know? Phoenix Wright, legendary defense attorney. You caused quite the stir in the legal world, you rascal!” He flipped open a manila envelope in his hand, skipping through the pages within. “Kidnapping cases, famous movie stars, a trial held in a moving train of all things!” He snapped the folder shut. “You convicted one of your district’s top prosecutors _and_ the chief of police, one after the other!”

“Sounds like he came here to see you more than he came to see me.” Maya mumbled sarcastically.

“Don’t get the wrong idea now, Ms. Fey. I'm just as familiar with your skills in spirit channeling as I am in Mr. Wright’s skills in defense. In fact it’s exactly why I decided to ask for your aid in the first place!”

“Yeah, speaking of. You haven’t yet told us who you want Maya to channel yet.”

“I apologize for my vagueness, it’s… a bit of a confidential matter. I didn’t think it was wise to talk of it over the phone.” His face turned a tad more serious as he spoke. “You could say it’s part of an investigation I’m leading. Not official police business. More so a personal matter. This person is very important to me, you see.”

Maya spoke up softly. “Well then you’ve called the right team for the job. We often deal with untimely and unsolved deaths of loved ones, I’m certain we can get some kind of closure for…”

At this, the Inspector gave a soft, barking laugh. “No, no, I apologize if I gave you the wrong impression. While my relationship with this individual is...complicated, there is definitely no love in it. Hell, I hardly even know him.”

_Someone important to you that you have no love for. Why do I get the feeling our mystery spirit isn’t much of a saint?_

“But enough standing around in the cold! I am more than happy to discuss the details with the two of you inside!” Before Phoenix’s mind could complete its list of what kind of dastardly crimes this person could have possibly committed, Inspector Cabanela spun on his heel and began skipping back up the wooden steps to the Channeling School, whistling as he went, and leaving an overwhelmed Wright and Fey in his wake. Looking at each other with a shrug, the two entered the building in suit, shutting the door behind them to bar out the cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think the train case is exclusive to the anime?
> 
> Also, I now have time to work on this, so expect more frequent updates! Additionally, is the double line spacing easier or harder to read? I can't tell, so let me know what you think!


End file.
